Human exoskeleton devices are often used for load carriage, rehabilitation and strength augmentation. However, these devices generally have large power supplies, complex actuators and high costs that make them impractical for applications for which they would otherwise be well suited. For example, recreational hikers and backpackers are often limited not by aerobic endurance, but rather by joint pain and musculoskeletal injuries. These injuries are caused by the carrying of relatively low loads (on the order of 50 lb) straining muscles and damaging joints. Indeed, after their youthful years, hikers are often known to complain that the factor limiting their cherished recreation is not any aerobic limit, but rather the inability of their knees to handle the battering they endure coming down hills. As the issue for these hikers is the dissipation of energy, a powered system is not required. Rather, it would be desirable to design an unpowered system that does not require any electronics or batteries, dramatically decreasing the cost and/or weight of the system compared to other exoskeletons. Furthermore, the hiker would not need to be concerned with the device running out of power and becoming useless, nor being spoiled by weather conditions.